Hage rita dissertation for etd 5 3 20

The Relationship of Societal Pressures and Disordered Eating Among Lebanese Women by Rita Hage BA, University of California, Los Angeles, 2010 MA, American University of Beirut, 2014 MS, Antioch University New England, 2019 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Psychology in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Antioch University New England, 2019 Keene, New Hampshire ii Department of Clinical Psychology DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PAGE The undersigned have examined the dissertation entitled: THE RELATIONSHIP OF SOCIETAL PRESSURES AND DISORDERED EATING AMONG LEBANESE WOMEN presented on December 19, 2019 by Rita Hage Candidate for the degree of Doctor of Psychology and hereby certify that it is accepted*. Dissertation Committee Chairperson: Kathi Borden, PhD Dissertation Committee members: Gina Pasquale, PsyD Katherine Russell, PsyD Accepted by the Department of Clinical Psychology Chairperson Vincent Pignatiello, PsyD 12/19/2019 *Signatures are on file with the Registrar’s Office at Antioch University New England. iii Dedication I dedicate this dissertation to my father, Dr. Joe Hage, who is the reason for my achievements and success in life.

I am grateful for his continuing and unwavering love, support, and sacrifices. Throughout my life, he continues to be my most important role model. I also dedicate this study to my mother, Myrna Hage. I am appreciative and thankful for her continuing love, encouragement, reassurance, and prayers in times of stress and difficulty.

Both my parents have provided me the catalyst to continue my doctoral degree and dissertation research. I owe my success in life to both my parents who taught me the value of leadership, education, and sacrifice in achieving greater goals. Without their continued love, patience, and support I would not have achieved what I have accomplished in my life. iv Acknowledgements This dissertation represents the completion of a long journey with obstacles that seemed challenging and insurmountable at times.

Completion of my dissertation would not have been achievable without the encouragement and support of my loving family and friends, as well as the collaboration and support from my colleagues and professors. I am truly grateful for all of them. I would like to acknowledge and thank Dr. Kathi Borden, my academic advisor, professor, and committee chairperson, for her guidance, mentoring, and support throughout my endeavor.

Her insight, understanding, and encouragement helped me stay focused on completing my long journey in the doctoral program and dissertation process successfully. I could not have done this difficult journey without her. I would like to thank Dr. Gina Pasquale and Dr.

Katherine Russell, my dissertation committee members, for their support and encouragement through the writing of this dissertation. I would like to thank my family. A special thank you to my father and mother, Dr. Joe Hage and Myrna Hage, and my sister, Karel Hage, for their unprecedented support, mentorship, and inspiration.

Without their unwavering encouragement and support, I could not have completed my doctoral degree, let alone this dissertation. It is impossible to overstate the value and worth of the presence my parents and sister have in my life. I would also like to express my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to my best friends, Aline Hachem and Nassab Ouainy. They never stopped praying, encouraging, and supporting me throughout my doctoral journey.

They both have always stood by my side, believed in me when things got tough, and gave me the extra push I needed. I am forever grateful and blessed to have them in my life. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements .iv List of Tables. 2 Women and Society.

2 Pressure from Family and Peers. 3 Pressure from Media. 6 Generational Standards of Beauty. 7 Beauty and Appearance are Greatly Emphasized in Lebanon.

8 Definition of Key Constructs. 11 Statement of Purpose. 19 Overall Societal Pressures on Disordered Eating. 20 Research Question 1: Mass Media and Disordered Eating.

20 Research Question 2: Family Pressure and Disordered Eating. 21 Research Question 3: Peer Pressure and Disordered Eating. 21 vi Exploratory Analysis. 26 Limitations and Directions for Future Research.

32 Appendix A: Demographic Data Questionnaire. 38 Appendix B: Introductory Email for Recruiting Participants. 39 Appendix C: Informed Consent. 42 vii List of Tables Table 1.

Correlations of Disordered Eating and Societal Pressures. Correlations of Disordered Eating and Societal Pressures by Age Group. 44 1 Abstract Messages that women receive from the media, family, and peers are often intended to promote the female thin ideal, and these messages may contribute to the development of eating disorders. In Lebanese society, unrealistic standards for thinness are a central component of how Lebanese society defines glamour.

The following paper examined the relationship of societal pressures on Lebanese women to meet these beauty expectations and how those pressures are related to disordered eating. Ninety Lebanese women between the ages of 18 and 39 responded to two questionnaires: (a) the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) and (b) the Sociocultural Attitudes Towards Appearance Questionnaire (SATAQ-4). A correlation analysis indicated that there was a positive relationship between problematic eating and exposure to social pressures of thin ideals and beauty conveyed by family, peers, and media. Given the limited research examining eating disorders in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East, the results of this study can be useful to help facilitate awareness of social pressure and advocate for necessary treatment facilities and programs for women in Lebanon.

This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.edu/ and Ohio Link ETD Center, https://etd.edu/ Keywords: disordered eating, societal pressure, Lebanon, women, thinness, peer, media 2 The Relationship of Societal Pressures and the Development of Problem Eating Among Lebanese Women Introduction The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the existence and extent of the relationship between disordered eating and societal pressures among Lebanese women. The following review of the scholarly literature includes the conceptual framework of the study, as well as information on eating disorders, pressure from family and peers, pressure from media, and generational standards of beauty. Key constructs related to eating disorders and societal pressures are discussed, and the literature review concludes with a discussion of the purpose of the study and the research questions. Literature Review Women and Society Women look to society’s ideals and norms for their personal perceptions of beauty.

Polivy, Garner, and Garfinkel (1986) found that societal preferences greatly dictate physical appearance and definitions of beauty. Beauty is defined as “a combination of qualities, such as shape, colour, or form that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight” (Oxford Dictionary, 2013). Surrounded by images of celebrities who are painfully thin and photoshopped, women in many societies feel pressured to look like the images they see. Because of the focus of popular culture on beauty and thinness, many women are determined to achieve these unrealistic ideals, using any method available to them to lose weight, regardless of whether it is risky or safe (Pinhas, Toner, Ali, Garfinkel, & Stuckless, 1999).

Millions of women resort to food restriction, cosmetic surgery, and diet pills to enhance various parts of their bodies and minimize others (Saha & Saha, 2017). Pinhas et al. found that, as pressure increased on women to lose weight and 3 to change their looks so that they become more like the ideals society portrays, women felt more dissatisfaction about their bodies and looks. Research has shown that in Western society, the beauty ideals and messages that females receive from the media, family, and peers help promote the female thin ideal, leading to the development of eating disorders (Le Grange, Lock, Loeb, & Nicholls, 2010; Stice, Maxfield, & Wells, 2003; van den Berg, Thompson, Obremski-Brandon, & Coovert, 2002).

The Dove Self-Esteem Project featured a study to understand how women and girls across 13 countries felt about their appearance and body. Dove (2016) found that across the 13 countries, 87% of women will stop themselves from eating and put their health at risk to achieve a certain body weight. The study revealed that 69% of women and 65% of girls felt pressure from television and other media to reach these unrealistic standards. Moreover, the survey showed that 60% of women believed that they had to achieve the unrealistic beauty standards portrayed in their society and media to achieve a better and happier life.

The Dove study suggested that women can be affected negatively by exposure to beauty and thin ideals, resulting in poor mental and physical health, as well as failure to recognize their full natural beauty and worth (Dove, 2016). Pressure from Family and Peers Family and peers are important socializing agents serving as messengers of societal values to be thin, which could encourage disordered eating (Meyer & Gast, 2008; Stice, Maxfield, & Wells, 2003). Western studies have shown that women who lived in a critical family environment dominated by dialogues about thinness and weight were at increased risk for eating disorders (Haworth-Hoeppner, 2000). In addition to family environments, Western studies suggested that peers who placed pressure on others regarding beauty and thin ideals helped influence the presence of eating disorders (Stice et al.

Societal pressures to be thin 4 appeared to have a greater negative effect on women when messages originated from closer related people, such as family and peers, compared to messages from those with more distant relationships. Peers and family contribute to pressure on women regarding weight-loss attitudes and behaviors. Whale, Gillison, and Smith (2014) investigated the relationship of women’s attitudes and reason for losing weight to societal pressures surrounding weight loss and attitudes toward weight. The authors conducted semistructured qualitative interviews with women who were attending commercial weight-loss programs.

The researchers found that women believed their primary reason for losing weight was external pressure. Rather than having personal values motivate the participants, women tried to lose weight because of the pressures they faced from family and friends. Participants expressed that the comments and reactions they experienced from family and friends about weight and unrealistic thin ideals brought up negative emotions. Even when participants were successful in their weight loss regime, they still did not feel that the weight change was enough for their family and friends (Whale et al.

This study showed that women are influenced by their perception of family and peer pressure to partake in weight-loss behaviors. Studies have shown that sociocultural influences, such as peers and family, can contribute to the development of eating disorder attitudes and behaviors. Linville, Stice, Gau, and O’Neil (2011) examined whether maternal and peer attitudes about the importance of thinness might be associated with eating disorders in adolescent girls. A sample of 483 adolescent girls between the ages of 15–19 were given questionnaires that measured thin-ideal internalization, body dissatisfaction, social support, pressure to be thin, and bulimic symptoms.

The researchers found that maternal and peer views of thin ideals significantly predicted bulimic symptoms in 5 adolescent girls (Linville et al. These findings demonstrated that unhealthy attitudes and behaviors from family members and peers are associated with an increased risk for exhibiting eating disorder symptoms. Rhodes and Kroger (1992) found that young women who lived in a family where pressures for beauty and thinness were greatly emphasized were at risk for disordered eating. In particular, mother-daughter relationships have been shown to contribute to eating disorders in young women.

Studies have also found connections between the parents’ own dieting behaviors and concern about weight, and the parents’ encouragement of their children to lose weight (Krones, Stice, Batres, & Orjada, 2005). Further, parental judgments, remarks, and comments concerning weight and shape of their children have been shown to be associated with eating disorders. Feedback that young women receive from parents and family concerning their appearance exerted pressure to follow cultural ideals of thinness and beauty. Because young girls and women want to win parental and family approval, they internalize these pressures, and this may increase their risk of developing eating disorders (Krones et al.